Artful Rainwater Design

Water. We all drink it, everyday. Some drink out of a plastic bottle, some out of Nalgenes, Kleen Kanteens, or SIGGS. The water we drink though comes from the sky, from rain. The first post of this blog discusses the hydrologic cycle in the context of watersheds. Stormwater is the human term for rainwater that falls on urban surfaces. Stormwater is often removed via pipes, as quickly and efficiently as possible. This approach has consistently resulted in downstream flooding, stream habitat destruction, and other substantial environmental and social issues. Though over the years attempts have been made to correct the problems with this approach, it still continues to be a problem to this day.

There are alternatives though. Green infrastructure is starting to be more widely used to compensate for the negative aspects of the prototypical engineered stormwater management approach. Green roofs, bioretention swales and structures, rain gardens, and other such elements utilize natural systems to remove rainwater. Penn State Landscape Architecture professors Stuart Echols and Eliza Pennypacker recently called some of these green infrastructure techniques "Artful Rainwater Design (ARD)." These designs are named for their intent and ability to act as art in the urbanized landscape, and function as stormwater management mechanisms. In many instances, these designs are also used to convey information to the public, sometimes via signage, and other times simply through informative design.

Kevin Jensen, a graduate student at Penn State, has developed a survey to gauge just exactly what the public does comprehend from such designs. Regardless of whether you, the reader, may be interested in ARD, it would be extremely helpful for Kevin, and educational for yourself, if you took the time to complete the survey. If you are interested in learning more about ARD, have a gander at this site.